Apply for Campus Climate Lab Funding

Cities are feeling the brunt of climate change but are also centers for innovation. With a population of about 45,000 and 370 buildings that span 140 acres on its campuses, BU is a city within a city. Using the BU campus as a living laboratory is an opportunity to harness the University as a testbed for innovative climate solutions, as well as help the University contribute to the broader city’s climate and equity challenges. The Campus Climate Lab seeks to advance research and catalyze our community by promoting, demonstrating, and implementing our commitment to sustainability, climate action, and equity and justice.

Project ideas can be grounded in any discipline, spanning engineering, humanities, health, social and natural sciences, communications, business, fine arts, etc. Projects can originate from undergraduate or graduate students, faculty, or staff. Projects that support the goals of the University Climate Action Plan or advance the equity and justice aspects of sustainability are especially encouraged. Projects must be grounded on the BU campus, but teams are encouraged to foster connections and impacts in neighborhoods beyond the campus (please note entities external to BU are not able to receive funding).

Do you have an idea for a Campus Climate Lab project and need help connecting with faculty or students, finding an Operations partner, or refining your proposal? Join us for the information session and/or project brainstorming sessions over Zoom. The Campus Climate Lab team will be available to help develop and refine ideas before proposals are due. Participation in the brainstorming sessions is optional and will not affect the award selection. See the schedule below under timeline and register to attend.

All Campus Climate Lab research teams must include both student(s) and mentor(s). Mentors can be either faculty or graduate students. Collaboration with a BU Operations staff (e.g., Facilities Management & Operations, etc.) is necessary if there is a need to locate appropriate data and establish study sites on campus.

To help you connect with faculty mentors, we’ve highlighted IGS core and affiliated faculty by their area of research expertise.

Research teams accepted into the Campus Climate Lab will be invited to participate in a luncheon to facilitate connections and exchange ideas across the diverse teams, as well as invited to events throughout the year geared toward the Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS) community.

To be considered for funding, please submit a research proposal using this proposal template.

All proposals must be submitted as a single PDF to cclab@bu.edu. Submissions should range 2-4 pages max. We recommend that when drafting your project plan and timeline, apply for one semester of funding only and then apply for additional funding during subsequent funding cycles. Please note that if your project includes interviewing participants or conducting focus groups, please review BU’s IRB protocol and include a plan for IRB approval in your submitted proposal.

Research awards are open to students and faculty of all BU schools and colleges. Proposals will be evaluated by a team of faculty and staff reviewers drawn from IGS affiliates and BU Sustainability.

The deadline to apply for summer 2024 funding is Wednesday, March 6 at 5 pm.

Below are a few examples of potential research themes and projects, some of which are drawn from the Climate Action Plan. These examples are intended to be illustrative – do not feel limited to these themes.

Learn more about ongoing and past Campus Climate Lab projects.

Life Cycle Assessment

• Understand impacts of University decisions related to purchasing and construction
• Carbon intensity of building materials, furniture & finishes, consumable goods, etc
• Analyze spending and emissions related to office supplies, vehicles, etc (see Climate Action Plan SCWG report for an early documentation of this)
• Analyze behavior change for Zero Waste across BU
• Build on previous CCL project “Analysis of Willingness to adopt personal care and cleaning products refill habits by undergraduate students living in BU dorms”
• Analyze behavior change at the Center for Comptuing and Data Sciences Building which has data available to be analyzed)

Equity and justice

• Identify impacts of BU waste generation on external communities
• Identify equity and justice aspects of BU energy and material use
• Study BU involvement in environmental justice communities

Carbon offsets

• Develop offset program for faculty/staff and student air travel
• PAVER+ program
• Analyze certified offset programs
• Identify best value for BU financially and carbon emissions reductions
• Study legitimacy & longevity of offsets program for an institution like BU (long-standing future-thinking org.)
• Study pitfalls of the various offset programs (i.e. publicity, environmental, habitat/forest management)

Urban Heat Island Effect

• Identify best practices to reduce Urban Heat Island Effect
• Identify areas on campus in need of tree planting
• Build on previous CCL project “Urban heat island effect: A study of various city surfaces and their impacts”

Air quality

• Monitor air quality in real-time on campuses over time
• Understand impacts on reduction of air pollution (based on efficiency, electrification, transportation, etc)
• Incorporate a community/city component

Carbon sequestration

• Track, manage, and report carbon sequestration on BU properties (including Sargent Center and Tanglewood properties)
• Identify alternative mulching practices
• Measure impact of alternative mulching practices
• Identify a strategy that provides aesthetic needs of BU + carbon sequestration
• Build on previous CCL project “Influence of landscape management practices on urban greenhouse gas budgets”

Flooding prevention

• Identify best practices for land permeability to reduce flooding
• Measure effectiveness of green infrastructure at CCDS building
• Add rainfall sensors, cistern sensor, catch basin sensor (to measure level of groundwater), sensor in groundwater recharge system
• Understand effectiveness of groundwater recharge system, cistern
• Understand effectiveness of green roof absorption
• Explore possible use of sensor technology from Photonics department
• Conduct research that would translate to City of Boston, Back Bay, other developers

Flooding mitigation

• Conduct a cost analysis for 1-in-1000-year flood
• Identify basements and assets
• Identify a strategy to prioritize high-value assets, including prioritizing & recommending relocation of mechanical equipment, critical research
• Work with Campus Planning & Operations (CPO) Informatics & Strategic Initiatives, Emergency Management to identify flooding mitigation strategies

Extreme heat

• Develop early warning capabilities for heat waves and air quality alerts; establish cooling centers
• Green Ribbon Commission to coordinate cooling centers, communications
• Conduct research around early warning signals, communications to neighborhoods
• Investigate culturally sensitive communications as related to extreme heat

Solar energy

• Analyze solar PV on Track & Tennis Center
• Understand & compare efficiency of panels on south-facing vs north-facing roof
• Translate BU research related to solar energy externally for industry best practices
• Validate solar installer models

Wind energy

• Conduct analysis of BU Wind data
• Build on CCL project “BU wind data analysis and curriculum development”

Personal transport

• Develop a personal transportation dashboard for BU community. This dashboard could potentially allow regular faculty and staff to manage their commuting benefits, participate in commute challenges, find ride-share matches, and see day-to-day environmental, health, and monetary implications of their commuting choices through one central portal with minimal opt-in and effort.
• Study construction and deployment of a multimodal transportation dashboard similar to MIT’s Ride Amigos-based “AccessMyCommute” system.
• Identify a mobile-based system through which the BU community can make modal decisions (Walk, Bike, Wait for the shuttle) based on real-time data including BU Shuttle, MBTA, Hubway, and traffic data.

Funding will be commensurate with the scope of the project, with awards anticipated in the range of ~$1,000 to > $10,000 per year. Project duration can range from one semester up to one year.

Allowable expenses include student salary/stipend, research supplies, analytical costs, and publication/dissemination costs. For parity across projects, the undergraduate student hourly rate will be $15/hour with no fringe. The graduate student hourly rate will be $17/hour with 9.9% fringe.

Costs related to the implementation of findings beyond the research project do not need to be included in the project budget.

Please note that in accordance with BU’s Student Employment Office, students will need to complete an I-9 form with the faculty’s hiring department within 2 days of the project start date in order to be compensated for their work.

For more information regarding the funding process, please contact cclab@bu.edu.

Students who participate in the Campus Climate Lab and successfully complete the requirements will be eligible for the Anthony Janetos Climate Action Prize. This prize honors and continues the legacy of Professor Anthony Janetos, who chaired the 2017 Climate Action Plan Task Force, leading to the creation of the University Climate Action Plan and the Campus Climate Lab.

This recognition will be awarded annually each spring to the student or team of students involved in a project through the Campus Climate Lab that is judged to have successfully advanced climate action each year at BU and beyond.

Below are key events and deadlines for the Summer 2024 funding cycle

Deadline for proposal submission
Wednesday, March 6 | 5 pm

To be considered for funding, submit a research proposal using this proposal template.

To receive updates about Campus Climate Lab and other sustainability-related opportunities geared toward BU students, join the IGS student email list.